That'll hurt in the morning
by doodle-boop
Summary: When Team Free Will is out hunting demons, Cas gets injured. Deadly injured. Dean goes mother hen over him, making sure he's ok, but how do the others feel about it? And how will it affect the groups ability to hunt? Read more to find out. Rated T for language.


It was just minutes after Dean had exorcised the last demon they were fighting in an abandoned warehouse. He glanced over his shoulder to see Sam crumpled up in a pile, unconscious from being flung carelessly across the room and into a shelving unit. Fear struck Dean deep in his gut because he knew Sam usually was able to recover within seconds. He rushed over to his brothers side and knelt down. Dean grabbed Sam's face and gently shook it. A groan came from Sam as he came to, and Dean felt the fear subside. Sam was ok, just a little shaken up. Dean grabbed Sam by the shoulders and struggled to help his moose of a brother back onto his feet.

Dean brushed his leather jacket off and wiped away the demon blood spattered across his face. He was walking near where the demon was to retrieve the demon blade when he felt like he was forgetting something. He stopped dead in his tracks and was trying his hardest to remember just what he was having difficulty remembering. The thought flooded in when the brothers heard a muffled whimper of pain coming from somewhere behind some shelves.

Cas! Dean thought. How could he have forgotten the other person with them? How could both him and Sam be so idiotic as to forget that their best friend came with them?

"Cas! Where are you? Can you make a sound for us? Any sound at all?" Dean called out.

Sam heard another muffled whimper, this time louder. He dashed towards the sound, Dean following at his heel. Dean had a bad feeling that something must have happened. Cas was amazing in combat… Why would he be injured over a silly fight with a demon?

As the boys passed every space in between the shelves, the sounds coming from Cas were getting louder, yet filled with more agony. Dean figured they must have passed at least twenty rows before they got to him. Castiel's cheeks were tear soaked, as if whatever pain he was enduring had been too much. After pulling the towel that was stuffed in Cas's mouth out, he gave Cas a once-over to make sure he was okay, but he wasn't. There were stab wounds near Castiel's ribs and the bone in his right shin had been shattered so far it had ruptured the skin and was protruding in a ripped and bloody fashion. Cas also had many cuts in his face and arms, no thanks to the demons that were currently getting used to hell again.

Dean was overridden with emotion. He didn't know whether to feel scared or angry or sad, but he knew he had to be brave. Sam was standing a few feet away, completely in shock and for some reason, did not take any action to help their ex-angel friend. Pain was something relatively new to Castiel, and Dean could tell that by the way Cas winced when Dean even got near him. Tears had started to well up in Cas's eyes again, but he blinked them back to try to be more brave. He couldn't show his fear and agony in front of the two most courageous people he knew.

Dean didn't want to have to do this, but he pulled out his jack knife and began sawing and cutting at the material surrounding the major injuries. Cas cried out in pain a few times, but he had to bear through it so that they could arrive to a hospital sooner. The less struggle, the faster the help, right? Cas thought to himself. When Dean was finished cutting away the clothing he needed to, he called Sam over. Sam was shaking. Sure, he had pulled bullets from himself. Sure, he had dug through bodies, but that was helping himself or doing things that wouldn't hurt anybody since they were dead. Sam just couldn't stand the sight of his friend with a bone sticking out, for whatever reason. He snapped out of his shock when Dean shouted at him for help for the fifth time.

Sam took a few steps over and helped Dean hoist Cas from the crumpled ball on the ground he was, to Dean carrying him bridal style for the most support. Castiel was losing a lot of blood, and fast. Dean ran with Cas in his arms as fast as he could while Sam was supporting his legs to provide the most comfort he could for Cas at the moment. The got out the back doors, the same ones they came in. They had to get Cas in the Impala and to the hospital as fast as possible, even if it meant twenty over the limit.

* * *

When they got Cas to the car, his eyelids were fluttering. Dean had to keep him awake, so once he slid Castiel into the back seat of the car, he tossed the keys to Sam and sat down carefully in the backseat with Cas, who was laying down and had to rest his head on Dean's lap.

Dean had to keep him awake, knowing he probably had a concussion too. Sam started up the car and sped away to the nearest hospital. Keeping Cas awake meant talking to him as much as possible, so he found random topics to talk about that would have not a lot of relevance in the future when Cas was healed. He started to talk about the mushy cute little girl stuff that probably would make him sick by talking about it.

"So, Cas, um whats your favorite kind of- hey, buddy, stay with me- what's your favorite kind of um, puppy? Yeah sure, puppies, I guess?" Dean asked the half conscious man resting in his lap.

"Uh, I guess I don't really know m-much about dogs… but I did see one the other day that was quite an adorable puppy, and I asked th-the owner w-what kind of dog it was. She replied with Border Collie, so I g-guess thats… yeah. That's my favorite dog," Cas replied in a dazed fashion. Sam smirked, over-hearing the conversation, because he thought that if Cas was a dog, he would probably be a Border Collie. Dean had to keep Cas awake, so he would ask other simple questions, and sometimes repeat old questions because he didn't know what to say.

The Impala finally arrived in the emergency area of the parking lot, and Dean had to carefully slide out from under Cas without hurting him. Once he was out from the weight of Cas's head, Sam leaned into the car and started to pull Cas out. Dean grabbed his lower half and they tried to stabilize Cas in a standing position but he was too weak. Sam and Dean had to carry his dead weight into the hospital where they could get help for their best friend.

**That's all for Chapter one, but I promise there will be more :)**


End file.
